LOVE A GOOD MOAN? OF COURSE NOT, WE’RE BRITISH!
TripAdvisor data reveals myth of the moaning Brit
It has long been said that us Brits are a nation of
moaners and with this in mind we set-out to find out whether the label really
does fit and TripAdvisor can officially bust that myth – at least when it comes
to travel.Data has revealed that in fact we Brits are among the five most positive nations when it comes to reviewing accommodation properties TripAdvisor. We score an average of 4.1 out of five - higher than almost every other European nation.[1]
South Africa are the brightest bunch, with an average score of 4.22 out of five posted by reviewers there, compared with just 3.8 for the least positive nation of reviewers – Malaysia.[2]
Emma Shaw, TripAdvisor spokesperson, said: “When
TripAdvisor was founded, the idea of ‘the wisdom of the crowd’ was still
relatively unheard of and there was a fear that people would only want to share
their travel horror stories. In fact, our experience over the last twelve years
has shown the opposite to be true – people do genuinely want to share their
good experiences with the world first and foremost.”
Simon Fried, consumer behavioural psychologist, explains why the majority of consumers are prepared to share their positive
experience with others:
“At first it
may seem surprising that so many people selflessly contribute for the sake of
the common good, but the underlying psychological urges are very strong. In the
offline world when we receive a gift or someone does us a favour we are naturally
compelled to give back. Now the internet has empowered us to carry this behaviour
into the online world,”
“Secondly,
most of us have an image of ourselves as the sort of person that does the right
thing. In order to maintain this image we prove it to ourselves by doing a good
deed, such as recommending to others something we have enjoyed ourselves.
Both the need to give back and to maintain a consistent self-image are
deep-seated urges.”
Data appendix
Table
#1: Average TripAdvisor Accommodation Review Rating by Country of Origin
| RANK | COUNTRY | AVERAGE REVIEWER RATING |
| 1 | South Africa | 4.222347 |
| 2 | Israel | 4.168918 |
| 3 | Russia | 4.1614 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 4.134837 |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 4.122071 |
| 6 | Australia | 4.110752 |
| 7 | Austria | 4.101667 |
| 8 | United States | 4.085463 |
| 9 | Switzerland | 4.081924 |
| 10 | Greece | 4.080267 |
| 11 | Canada | 4.079667 |
| 12 | Ireland | 4.070494 |
| 13 | The Netherlands | 4.057945 |
| 14 | Germany | 4.047384 |
| 15 | Chile | 4.043335 |
